“Can he explain to the House what the Prime Minister meant when she said: ‘There will be staff here from overseas in that interim period until the further number of British doctors are able to be trained and come on board in terms of being able to work in our hospitals.’

“What did that mean and what should we expect next? Ambulances plastered with go home slogans?”

The quip on Tuesday drew groans from the Conservative benches, with Dunne springing to his feet to criticise the “ill-judged” remark.

Ashworth was accused of peddling an “inappropriate rumour” and was urged by the minister to use “more measured language” in his future addresses.

But the Leicester South MP hit back, saying complaints about ill-judged and misrepresentative comments were better directed at the Prime Minister.

BBC

May faced a backlash after both she and Hunt laid out plans to make NHS England more “self-sufficient” by training up to 1,500 memore doctors a year to tackle a growing recruitment crisis.

The PM had said medics from overseas would work in the NHS during an “interim period - until the further number of British doctors are able to be trained and come on board in terms of being able to work in our hospitals”.

But her comments sparked a swift backlash, with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying the “arrogance’ of the UK government was “breathtaking”.

The arrogance of this from UKG is breathtaking...like they're somehow doing these doctors a favour by 'allowing' them to save lives here. https://t.co/oUnOiEkRfG

In interviews after the criticism, May appeared to change her stance. When asked if foreign doctors would be asked to go home, she told Five News “No...we want to see more British doctors being trained”.

Watch the full exchange below:

My debut at Health Questions today asking ministers to give us assurances on NHS staff from the EU and recruitment post Brexit pic.twitter.com/O72qR3BLn2